hi i am a overweight male 5'9 245lbs i am 50 years old been feeling low energy,lots of joint aches and hardly any good lasting erections .Been like this around 8 months went to family dr. and he took testosterone test it came back with the readings of 2.01 ng/ml i thought this was low but, He didn't seem to make a big deal of it. Then later that week as he was going over my file he calls and orders a testosterone shot,He said my t. might be the cause of my problems! My question is ,is that t-level too low for a active 50 year old man? i DON"T want to have to take hormones if i do not need to. I have seen the shrunk up testes of some weightlifters on hormones and i would like to keep what bits and pieces i do have. Also i would like to know the norm range for testosterone is for my age and if there is any natural ways to increase production safely in my own system thank you for your help!

You have recounted exactly the kind of symptoms which have caused researchers all over the world to label a new syndrome called 'Andropause' - the male equivalent of female menopause. The levels of testosterone are definitely on the lower side, but usually we ask for a repeat analysis of Serum total and Free Testosterone at 8AM in the morning and then label as a patient as having SLOH - Symptomatic late onset Hypogonadism.

In patients who are feeling less energetic, with weak erections, typically in a overweight male who otherwise might be having hypertension or diabetes or elevated lipid levels, i.e. cholesterol, etc. but with a normal prostate - known otherwise as metabolic syndrome - administration of depot injections of testosterone have been found to improve the sense of well being considerably. The alternative to the injections is application of testosterone as a gel over your shoulders about once a day, taking care that you do not let your partner come in contact with the same.

Significant benefit is also seen if the patients get onto an active aerobic exercise regimen at the same time.

thank you for your help ! are the injections safe and what would be the norm levels of testosterone for my age (50) Be? So i can compare the levels on my next blood level test. Again thank you in advance for your help!!

Answered by Dr. V. Sasanka 42 minutes later

answer Id 51063; conversation id 48505

Hi,Thanks for writing back.I) Testosterone injections are usually safe in patients who definitely have hypogonadism. But as I mentioned earlier, care should be taken to exclude presence of a hitherto undetected Prostate cancer. Also, if you have a tendency to snore or have obstructive sleep apnea, testosterone may have to be avoided. This is why we do not prescribe testosterone straight away but in fact repeat the test again with an estimation of both Total and Free Testosterone levels which are more accurate. Testosterone will not be of benefit in patients with no hypogonadism.2) Normal levels of Serum Total Testosterone are about 240 - 800 ng/dl. The levels do not remain the same throughout the day, but vary considerably with troughs and peaks.I hope I have addressed your concerns. Please close this discussion if you have no more questions.Regards